Chukswmei of 1934 - Customary rite of cleansing from sin -

Ragongning Gangmei *

CHUKSWMEI is a customary rite once prevalent among the communities of Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme. The historic CHUKSWMEI of 1934 was performed on the 1st April 1934 at Tamenglong Headquarters in connection with the sending of delegates from Tamenglong areas to Imphal to felicitate the Maharaja on the conferment of CBE (Commander of British Empire) to Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh by the British Crown.

Customarily the rite is performed for cleansing of sin of a serious crime like murder, killing committed to a fellow being in the feuds or out of enmity or jealousy or by mistake. Such crimes created enmity, hatred or vendetta between the two families, group of families, villages, communities and such crimes caused to break up the normal relationship of a good neighbourhood between the two parties - the perpetrator and the victim. More graviously, such crimes entailed retaliation.

In the past, untill and unless a befitting revenge was taken, members of the victim family or village were restless and could not held their heads high in the society. This frequently caused the inter-village feuds. Between them, it was forbidden or a taboo to friendly exchange of commodities, courtesy call and to have relationship as in normal way of life. It is also forbidden to work together, to take food together and to sleep together. So they excommunicated themselves from each other. For forgiveness of sin and bringing back them to reconciliation and to forgive and forget the malignances, the customary rite of chukswmei was performed between the two parties. CHUKSWMEI is also known as chuksuaihmei and chukthoibou (in Liangmai).

It is believed that 'chuk' comes to mankind because of violation of divine instructions, such as taboos, forbidden ones or divine's dos and don'ts. It is also believed that 'chuk' caused sickness, lame, blindness and sorrowful life to human being. It is believed that 'chuk' can be forgiven and cleansed by performing the rite of 'Chukswmei'.

'Chuk' is sin, 'swmei' means performing the rite. Some persons called it Chuksw Gahroumei. Gahroumei is the act of cleansing to ward of sin by rubbing the body with curcuma (a kind of domesticated fiberous medicinal herb of turmeric family). Chukswmei is the proper term of the rite, gahroumei is not necessarily required to add to it. Chukswmei means chuk thouc swmei - performing the rite of cleansing from sin and also it includes the meanings of forgiveness and reconciliation.

The phrase 'Chuksw Gahroumei', popularly and frequently referred to that of 1934 in relation to the unity and solidarity of the Zeliangrong communities is not only a misnormer but the more gravious side is that the real occasion and its historicity are misunderstood, misquoted and wrongly interpreted among the people of today's generation.

Do you know about any ethnic-based enmity or feud being fought among the Zeliangrong communities at any point of time in the history or in the past? Do you have a story to tell or a song to sing about it? No, we dont have any.

There were enmity among certain individual villages that frequently turned to inter-village feuds in the past, NOT between inter-communities. They were taking revenges against each other. These feuds were between the people of one village and another village. But, it should be noted that each and every village did not engage in inter-village feud. Inter-village feuds were engaged between certain individual villages only.

Inter-village feuds were caused by certain issues and crimes like disputes on village territorial boundaries, killing of persons out of jealousy or by mistake, retaliation, kidnapping or forced elopment, etc. and theft, falling tree, hunting beyond the village territory, etc. The inter-village feuds were to take retaliation, not head hunting. To prove his killing in retaliation, people used to cut the head of the killed and brought it home. But the culture of head hunting, as such, was not known among the Zeliangrong communities.

The Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme are the cognate tribes and they solidly shared the ancestry of Makuiluangdi, the last point of their dispersal and the bed rock of their oneness. There was neither ethnic-based enmity nor feud among the Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme since Makuiluangdi till today. There was no inter-tribe feud at any point of time in the history till now. There is neither story nor history that speaks about the enmity of these communities against one another. So there is no question of Chukswmei or Chuksw Gahroumei for the inter-communities reconciliation of Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme. So there is no iota of truth that the Zeliangrong leaders performed Chuksw Gahroumei in 1934 for reconciliation of the Zeliangrong communities.

To consolidate the cognate bond of oneness among them and also with an objective of furthering 'economic, social and educational and political advancement' ZELIANGRONG COUNCIL was formed at Keishamthong Kabui village of Imphal only on the 15th February 1947. The nomenclature ZELIANGRONG was coined in that meeting with ZE for Zeme, LIANG for Liangmai and RONG for Rongmei+Inpui. And the so called Chuksw Gahroumei was performed in 1934, thirteen years ahead of the birth of ZELIANGRONG. Hence, there is no point to drag in 'Zeliangrong' to the Chuksw Gahroumei of 1934.

Chuksw Gahroumei - the true story

Since the early 1900s the culture of inter-village feuds had declined considerably. People had free movements excepting certain villages where inter-village feuds were frequently engaged. Such villages were remained dormant. At such pockets of area or villages, people were not completely free from fear and suspicion. Therefore, they had hesitation of easily and openly mixing with each other because of customary's fobiddances or taboos.

In the spring season of 1930, one day in March, at Puiluanh (Kambiron) a Ruangmei(Kabui) village of the then Tamenglong Sub-Division, four betel leaf traders belonging to the Meitei community were murdered by a mob for burning fire at the outside of the guest house within the village in violation of a 'no fire' genna called Mai Nei (a customary prohibition of fire inside and outside the village as usually enforced during the dry season every year at every hill village). It was a forbidden and a taboo to bum fire anywhere during the period of Mai Nei excepting at the cooking oven of the home.

On the other side, to suppress the Naga Raj Movement, Haipou Jadonang was wrongly implicated in the case of killing of the four betel leaf traders by the British authority and hanged him to death on the 29th August 1931 at Imphal Jail. So, because of the reasons aforesaid above, there was a little gap of misunderstanding and apprehension between the people of Imphal valley and Tamenglong areas. (That was too because of rumour and lack of communication among the people.) Therefore, for some years, the people of Tamenglong areas stopped coming down to Imphal particularly from the year Haipou Jadonang, their leader, was hanged in 1931.

At such juncture of time and social environments the historic and popularly quoting Chuksw Gahroumei was performed on the 1st April 1934 at Tamenglong Sub-Divisional Headquarters for a good and specific purpose as narrated hereunder. In the year 1934, the British Crown conferred upon the Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh with the prestigious CBE (Commander of British Empire) in addition to the KCSI (Knight Commander Star of India) which was earlier conferred to and that title remained with him as a Maharaja of Manipur. So, the then SDO of Tamenglong C.S.Booth made a proposal to the people of Tamenglong area to felicitate the Maharaja at the Palace at Imphal. But, as aforesaid, the villagers had hesitation to easily and openly mixing with each other because of the past inter-village feuds. Also, they wanted to go with a bigger team to Imphat because of a little gap of misunderstanding and suspicion between the people of Imphal valley and Tamenglong areas for the reasons aforesaid above.

Therefore, to facilitate the people, the SDO of Tamenglong Sub-Division Mr. Booth, in consultation with the local elders and with their suggestion, proposed to perform the rite of chukswmei so as to enable all the selected representives from different villages of Tamenglong area to go together, to take food together and to sleep together without hesitation in their journey to Imphal to felicitate the Mharaja. So, the rite was performed especially for the team members who were selected to go to Imphal for this specific purpose. And 4 paise was raised from every household towards the costs of a silver cup and a silver plate as mementos of felicitation to the Maharaja.

The historic Chukswmei was performed on the 1st April 1934 at the present site of the Unity Pillar at Tamenglong Headquarters and the rite was administered by Pouh Tadangbou of Maguluang village in the presence of all the elders and leaders of Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme present on that day.

After the rite being performed, the elders were relieved and greatly rejoiced. So on the same day at the same avenue, just after completion of the rite of Chukswmei, they brought a cat and made a solemn oath "From today onwards, all manners of inter-village feuds, killing one another and taking revenge should be stopped forthwith in the land and no one should take up weapons to kill one another; that anyone who should take up spear, dagger or any weapon to renew the inter-village feud afresh shall be killed in the manner the cat was cut on the throat." And so they cut the cat on the throat and its head and body were separately buried in the soil. This they did for the people of those days as well as for the generations to come.

After the performance of the rite, the selected team of elders had gone down to Imphal and felicitated the Maharaja. The silver cup and plate were presented to the Maharaja with solemn chanting of customary huay and dance in front of the Maharaja arousing momentous thrilling at the Palace. The Maharaja was so much impressed that he expressed his great satisfaction and gave a written citation under his own signature. The occasion was truly a great historical event.

Therefore, it should clearly be noted that Chukswmei of 1934 was neither performed for reconcilliation of the Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme communities nor to reunite them as an organisation because there was neither ethnic-based feud/enmity among them nor there was tribes-based organisation among them till then. The ritual Chukswmei was just done for other purpose. It may also be noted that the Zeliangrong Council (today's Zeliangrong Union) was born only on 15 February 1947, thirteen years after the performance of Chuksw Gahroumei in 1934. So, at all it was not related with the Zeliangrong organisation. Therefore, no one should confuse about the Chuksw Gahroumei of 1934.

However, the Chukswmei of 1934 was truly a remarkable and a great historical event. It had great impact upon the society of Zeliangrong communities. The news of Chukswmei was spreaded far and wide among the people as a gospel of peace especially for those who were engaged in the inter-village feuds and with this news their blood was cooled down and the spirit of reconciliation came to each and everyone's mind. And the culture of village feuds was slowly wane up once for all. It had given a chance for easy social contact that had promoted mutual trust. Also it had created a situation free from fear and suspicion of each other and had brought a conducive social environment for free movement of the people from village to village and place to place. In short, the Chukswmei of 1934 had brought not only an end to the inter-village feuds but had paved the way for ushering a new age where everyone has freedom of life and peaceful co-existence with each other as good neighbours. Let's thank God.

Therefore, Chukswmei of 1934 be rather remembered for ending the culture of inter-village feuds, enmity and retaliation in our land. However, the uniqueness of the Chukswmei of 1934 is the oneness or solemn unity shown by the people of Inpui, Liangmai, Ruangmei and Zeme at the ritual performance and making a historic oath on that very day. The day reaffirmed the oneness of the Makuiluangdi people. That was the reason the Zeliangrong Union had a plan of erecting a Unity Pillar at the very venue of the Chukswmei of 1934 at Tamenglong Headquarters.